Knowledgebase

How to configure Microsoft Outlook Free Busy information for Calendar availability

Microsoft Outlook supports the sharing of calendar availability times by publishing the free busy information to a server. Creative Answers provides a secure or unsecured method of using free busy information for all domains hosted with Creative Answers.

Secure or Unsecure
Whether to use the secure or unsecure method is a choice each business must make when setting up the free busy information. Both options provide advantages and disadavantages. The table below is provided to assist:

Feature	Secure	Unsecure
Security	Availability information is only available to those with access to the Username and Password	Availability information is available to anyone with the server address.
Free Busy Option in Contact Card	The internet free busy information in your Contact card can be completed and shared with other people who have secure access. People without access cannot view your availability.	The internet free busy information in your Contact card can be completed and shared with other people. This allows people to view your availability in Outlook using Calendar across businesses.
What information is visible publicly	No information is visible to people without the username and password	Your availability is accessible by others on the internet. The information shared by Outlook 2003 and 2007 only contains availability information. No meeting information is visible.

How to Setup the Unsecured Free Busy Information

To configure Outlook please follow these steps.

Start Outlook
On the Tools menu, click Options.
On the Preferences tab, click Calendar Options.
Click Free/Busy Options.
Set the number of months to publish information
Set the time in minutes you want Outlook to refresh the Free Busy information. A period of 15 mins is default.
In Publish at My Location insert ftp://fb.creativeanswers.com.au/%SERVER%/%NAME%.vfb
In the Search locations insert http://fb.creativeanswers.com.au/%SERVER%/%NAME%.vfb

To test the Free Busy information please do the following:

Go to Tools->Send/Receive->Free/Busy Information
After selecting the above you will get a short popup message saying the Free Busy Information was sent successfully if it is working correctly

How to Setup the Secured Free Busy Information

The configuration of Outlook for the Secured free busy information is as follows:

With the secured option you would have been provided a program to automatically create the secure network connection. This information was provided to your business directly and not available via the knowledge base.
Start Outlook
On the Tools menu, click Options.
On the Preferences tab, click Calendar Options.
Click Free/Busy Options.
Set the number of months to publish information
Set the time in minutes you want Outlook to refresh the Free Busy information. A period of 15 mins is default.
In Publish at My Location insert the information provided with the secure connection information
In the Search locations insert the information provided with the secure connection information

To test the Free Busy information please do the following:

Go to Tools->Send/Receive->Free/Busy Information
After selecting the above you will get a short popup message saying the Free Busy Information was sent successfully if it is working correctly

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